The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have amended the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 so that, from 11 November 2021, all care home workers and other visiting professionals will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, unless they have an exemption or there is an emergency.
Registered persons (registered managers, registered providers) will need to ensure that they do not allow anyone entry into a care home unless they have had a complete course of an authorised vaccine or fall into one of the groups exempt from being vaccinated.
Detailed information about how you can prepare for and meet this change in the Regulations can be found in the DHSC operational guidance. We urge all relevant providers, managers and staff to read the guidance and take any necessary actions in order to be ready for when this duty is in place.
The requirement forms part of the fundamental standards and will be monitored and enforced in appropriate cases by CQC. We will not begin monitoring this until it becomes a duty in November. We will continue to use our existing assessment and enforcement policies and take a proportionate approach.
This statement outlines our approach to a) registration, b) ongoing monitoring and inspection, and c) enforcement.